Speech Writing: Graduation Address for High School Class of 2021
shehab afifi
Happy graduation day distinguished alumni, guests, family and friends, Chowan University faculty, staff,
and the extraordinary class of 2021! My name is Grace Arredondo and I am honored to stand before you
today as a graduation commencement speaker. I have so many to thank in this sea of smiling faces, but
I’ll allot this precious moment to thank my mom, dad, and younger brother, for I can surely say, I would
not be the woman I am today without their love and support.
Fellow graduates, today is a defining milestone in our lives. And I felt a lot of pressure while writing this
speech to share something uniquely profound but wholeheartedly relatable. It is no secret or debate
that we have proven ourselves to be one of the most resilient classes in Chowan history. We have all
fought battles, both known and unknown by those around us. And I am here today to say that despite
your struggles, you have made it to this moment. So find strength in having overcome these obstacles.
Although they may have caused pain and hardship, they did not keep you from accomplishing this
important dream.
I am addressing all of you today, hoping to be a source of inspiration. That as I remark on points in my
life where I have overcome feeling inferior and suffered life’s tribulations, you will identify in your own
personal way with my struggles and journey to this stage.
I was born and raised in Charleston, South Carolina to hardly a middle-class family, living in the same
house since I was three years old. As a child, my parents were devoted to making sure my brother and I
never had to carry the burden of knowing our financial state. They did without basic needs so he and I
could attend a private Christian school from kindergarten to graduation.
I have also had to overcome my fair share of bullies, specifically those who targeted me as a biracial
woman. In elementary school, I remember being so eager to do school projects on my Mexican heritage.
I’d make my abuelita’s secret salsa and pass around the classroom the few remaining photos of my
paternal family living in Valle Hermoso. I would stand tall and share my father’s story of immigrating to
the United States from Mexico with his family as a child. See, since my dad could be employed at fifteen
years old in the trenches of the Chigaco workforce, he has never stopped working to provide for his
family. But I found myself acknowledging this beautiful narrative less and less when the snobbish, rich
kids asked me to come mow their lawns on a weekly basis or when I learned that the new nickname I’d
acquired was actually a particularly hateful, hispanic racial slur. Although the mistreatment I’ve endured
is nothing compared to my father’s, I know the struggle of overcoming what it feels like to be lesser than
others based on a lineage that I am now openly proud to identify with.
Along with these struggles, I have had to contend with being diagnosed with ADHD and accompanying
OCD tendencies, as well as spending several years bitter with the grief and anger of my sweet
grandfather’s murder in an assisted living facility. And like each one of you, I have fought to overcome
crippling insecurities, devastating heartbreaks, and moments where I considered letting the dreams fade
away. Even during my college career, I have had to push through trials that threatened to keep me from
succeeding. However, I have remained resolved to not be a victim of these difficulties. As I stand here
today, I can wholeheartedly say I am thankful that the road was not easy because this moment would
not have been so sweet.
Although right now has amounted to more than merely four years in the making, they are defining
markers of the progress we’ve made to be here today. Freshman year, we had to find our place.
Sophomore year, we made a plan. Junior year, we carried on, with the end in sight. And senior year, we
managed to finish strong, all along the way, finding our purpose.
We have made it in spite of the most stressful, and in some ways, crushing year we could have
anticipated. Senior year is a celebration of lasts, preparing for a new set of firsts. For three years we’ve
put in the work, looking forward to our turn to be recognized, our time to shine. So maybe it’s not the
celebration we imagined, or the senior year we anticipated, it is still our time. Our opportunity to
embrace adversity and let the fire do its refining. In a period where we competed for empty bleachers
and attended virtual events, remember our class. That we were the ones who achieved beyond the
fulfilling glory. We did this for us. Our future. And that was enough.
Although it may feel hollow for those who have gone before us, having achieved the goals we still dream
of, to tell us to carry on despite Covid-19’s limitations, know that every generation has shared in a
struggle of their own. Hurdles come in many forms. Covid-19 is ours. But we have endured, we have
overcome and we are better for it. So, I urge you today, don’t look at this year for its lost opportunities.
We are entering into a new chapter of our lives with a wiser understanding of how to cherish the
simplest pleasures. Hugs, gatherings, celebrations, smiles, and normalcy. The way we have responded,
reacted, endured, and risen above says everything about who we are.
So today, as we have reminisced on a year, or perhaps a lifetime, of triumphs forged through setbacks,
be encouraged that we were born for such a time as this. To be the fresh emerging leaders, bursting
onto the scene of a weary world that so desperately requires our light, energy, ingenuity, resilience, and
our vision. And as fulfilling as today may seem, senior year is not the end. Graduation is not the ultimate
goal. We are to take everything this school and life and the world have taught us and go forth. This is our
launching pad. Now take flight!
Thank you, and congratulations!
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Posted Apr 13, 2023
Created inspiring graduation speech that celebrated the achievements of the graduating class while encouraging them to pursue their dreams.
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